Sunday 22nd November saw a welcome return to Nant Ucha Farm in Trevor (Near Llangollen) where the Clerk of the Course and the team blended a great twist on some of the previously used landscape along with some new areas to keep the interest high. The usual mix of pre 65, twinshocks, air-cooled mono's and modern machines were welcomed by a cheery signing on crew, set of observers and catering van (kindly provided by Chris De Burger) in readiness for the closing round sof the 2015 championship.
This month's main event report is kindly provided by Gaz Thomas.
Gaz Thomas A/C Mono Intermediate Route (50/50).
64 riders arrived to make a dry start to the penultimate round of the Aqueduct Classic Club Trial at Nant Ucha. Following some heavy rain in the days leading up to Sunday it was slippery going in places for the 4 laps of 10 sections. The green/intermediate class looked like this:
Section 1 started in the brook at the bottom of the field with a drop off shortly after the start cards followed by making a path through some bigger rocks before exiting the brook to the right over a concrete curb before making a hairpin turn left and back into the brook navigating around a tree before heading out of the brook and up a root covered bank making a tight right turn around a tree at the top then dropping back down to cross the brook one last time for the ends
Section 2 was a muddy entry into the brook and sharp right hand turn which got slippier throughout the day before exiting the brook left and heading up a steep root covered bank to make a tight right hand turn around a tree at the top then heading back down into and across the brook for the ends via some sharp rocks.
Section 3 started high up on the left hand bank of the brook, weaving between the smaller trees before turning right and dropping down the bank into the brook to navigate a winding bend with a small waterfall followed by more rocks as you wound our way upstream for the end cards.
Section 4 looked innocent enough with a downhill entry off the field into the brook before making a long lazy right hand turn skirting around the bigger rocks where it eventually tightened and headed back up hill onto the bank before a left hand turn on the bank itself lead to the end cards. This proved to be the first big mark taker of the day as the turns up and out onto the banks proved very slippy.
Section 5 took us the other side of the brook into the main wooded area and consisted of traversing a bank before making a left hand turn up the bank over some big roots which caught a few out followed immediately by a right hand turn around a tree before heading down a very muddy chute for the ends
Section 6 was an old favourite with a new layout which took you into the river but this time turned left and down stream before exiting right over some rocks followed by a right hand turn over some roots which were deceptively easy to lose the front on before dodging a tree and dropping back into the river and crossing in a fairly straight line over some big rocks and up and out the opposite bank
Section 7 started with a drop off over some roots into the river then heading straight across and back out to navigate your way around some trees up the opposing bank before entering the river again and heading left upstream over some good size rocks followed immediately by a right hand turn straight up the steep rock covered bank for the end cards
Section 8 was a bit of an epic which had a bit of everything. Entering the river before negotiating your way over big rocks to the right and up a waterfall into small pool with a massive rock in the middle where you also had to start turning sharp right, this combination of hazards stopped a few in their tracks and it wasn't over yet. Having exited the right hand turns two more huge rocks stood in your way making it tough to get a good run up at the root covered bank on the left which led to the end cards.
Section 9 was a chance to recover from the river as it took you to the top of the wooded area where a tight entry of left then right hand turns avoiding a tree with very big slippery roots took you into a natural bombhole and back out over more roots and between two trees turning hard left to navigate a pretty flat but slippery turn before heading out for the ends
Section 10 and another epic in the river but this time the other side of the field. A downhill entry off the main path led into the river and plenty of football size rocks were waiting to knock you off line before the main hazard which was a tight right hand turn with bigger rocks taking you back down the river exiting to the left over some roots before heading for the end cards back on the main path. This was a tough end to the lap which had a few huffing and puffing on the way out having dropped quite a few marks.
All in all another top event which just about stayed dry. Again all credit to the organizers and observers who braved the weather to make it all possible.
(many thanks to Gaz for taking the time to provide the report)
The final honours were as follows:
Pre 65 Elite: Russ Jones - Francis Barnet - 9, Kev Ellis – Greeves – 42, Tony Dillon – 51
Pre 65 50/50: Craig Howarth - James – 18, Roly Jones - Dot – 21, Garry Shaw – Ariel – 23
Pre 65 Clubman: M Powell – Ariel – 8, Graham Miller – Cub – 13, Peter Cockins – BSA – 17
Pre 65 Beginner: Pete Thomas – Enfield – 71
Twinshock Elite: Steve Martin – Majesty – 15, Chris Cascoigne - Honda – 18, Steve Knight – Yamaha – 54
Twinshock 50/50: Rob Jones – Honda – 26, Mark Gaskell – Whitehawk – 27, Martin Johnson – Bultaco – 42 (FC)
Twinshock Clubman: Neil Francis – Montesa – 9, John Sowden – Honda – 13, Phil Cottiga – Fantic – 16
A/C Mono 50/50: Gaz Thomas – Yamaha – 39, Gordon Wilson – Honda – 40
A/C Mono Clubman: John Sanders – Fantic – 9, Pail Cartwright – Beta – 29 (FC), Andy Steele – Yamaha – 29
Modern Mono 50/50: Alec Roberts – Gas Gas – 30, Jeremy Sutton – Ossa – 45, Jim Droughton – Montesa – 46
Modern Mono Clubman: Dec Marsden – Gas Gas – 17, Richard Corbett – Beta – 18, Ken Williams – Montesa – 19
Modern Mono Beginner: India Edwards – Gas Gas – 26, Pete Rainsford – Montesa – 41, Hayden Rainsford – Gas Gas – 52
For those of you wondering about coming to one of our events and trying to get a feel for the difficulty levels, the club has its roots as a Pre 65 and twinshock class with the sections set out with these types of bikes in mind. The stats (points dropped) for each class is as follows:
Elite: Range 9 – 57, Average 35
50/50: Range 18 – 72; Average 41
Clubman: Range 8 – 53, Average 25
Beginner: Range 26 – 71, Average 50
Our next event is on Sunday 13th December at Plas Onn (Selattyn), starting at 11:00.
As always, our thanks to the club officials, observers, helpers and the land owners for allowing us to take part in a great day's competition.